New Zealander catches Wii U at 50% off

Despite Nintendo refusing to allow an official price cut on the Wii U, that hasn’t stopped retailers from attempting one of their own. The above image was captured by a redditor in New Zealand, showing a full 50% discount on the Wii U in that region. Comparatively speaking, the PS4 is launching in New Zealand for a whopping $649 and the Xbox One will be $749.

Multiple reports across the globe of stores lowering prices on the Wii U in an attempt to get rid of the their stock have been reported.

This weekend in Sweden an electronic store called ‘Elgiganten’ is selling Wii U Basic for 1590 Kr ($245). Not as cheap as that store but still a great bargain, consumer taxes is pretty high in Sweden. I wonder if this events is related to some information we’re not aware about yet.

While Nintendo may not want to release a price cut for the device officially, retailers could force their hand with this pricing. What do you think?

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NintendoNoob

I don’t know if this should be good or bad. The Wii U might sell more units because of this but then again if the Wii U doesn’t sell which makes retailers want to put a new console 50% off they might now want more units. Retailers need to patient with the Wii U. One all Nintendos IPs come the Wii U will sell like hot cakes. At FULL PRICE. Please wait, retailers

LoZ4life98

When there is money on the line, people don’t want to wait.

ItzameyaToad

Old saying here “Good thing’s come to those that wait”. They will make there money but they are panicking, as they did with the 3DS, as they will do if for whatever reason Xbox One doesn’t fly off the shelves etc. This has happened before and it shows how stupid some retailers are.

ChiwawaBoi

Damn! thats TOO low!

Magnus Eriksson

It is not a good sign at all. Very disturbing. This will surely mean that many retailers will be hesistant to have a stock of Wii U’s.

ChiwawaBoi

looking at those signs might give me nightmares…

wiiucompl

It seems is it not good sign for Nintendo, but…

Some stores are preparing space for other equipment.
Stores cut off prices for smartphones, other consoles with crap games included just to sell …

But they can again take lots of Wii U to shop before Christmas 2013. New good games for Wii U will be soon. Gamers will ask for Wii U = Wii U will back

Elem187

shrug, until games are available thats the reality… maybe next console release Nintendo will get some games ready for the first year.

Isaac Serious

Everyone’s ignoring the fact that if Nintendo waited until November 2013 to release the Wii U, no one would have room to talk. We’d have Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, Sonic Lost World, WindWaker HD, Donkey Kong Country Returns Tropical Freeze on top of titles like Zombie U, NSMBU, etc that released at launch. Plus anything else that released this year such as RE Revelations and Monster Hunter 3U. Talk about coming out swinging at lauch… lmao

Billy_Perry

This argument is ridiculous, you might aswell say that the Xbox should have launched in 2011 with its fantastic line up. Not only ridiculous line of argument that makes little logical sense, but also dosen’t make sense from a business standpoint. The Wii U will have 4 million ahead of the PS4 and Xbox One for an install base, that is an incredible advantage.

Isaac Serious

First, no we aren’t talking about the Xbox/PS4 or even Microsoft/Sony for that matter. We are discussing this unnecessary price drop that wouldn’t even be needed if the Wii U released with said titles. Retailers are doing this to push the product, Nintendo isn’t losing much if anything here. I don’t see every retailer getting desperate and hacking the price.

I’m being very logical here and let’s be honest we can say 4mil is incredible which it is against the other 2. Except look at Nintendo in itself, 4 mil is nothing when compared to what all the titles releasing are going to accomplish. Even Iwata is admitting that the system isn’t selling like they hoped so let’s get real…

People can keep laughing at me when I say that Pikmin 3 is a system seller. Wii U will be revived with Pikmin. It can be as niche as it wants to be at this point. That 4mil didn’t buy a Wii U for 3rd party support that’s for sure. lol Also may I add that many who bought were dissappointed after hearing about the many delays. Pikmin 3 was a launch title or no? Can’t wait to see what it acheives on the Wii U and it seems Nintendo feels the same.

Then there’s also considering anyone that passes on Pikmin will indefinitely pick up W101 which will also sell units. Those two games will make 4 mil look like nothing with enough time and you know it. Throw in a Pikmin 3 commercial and Nintendo will be set. As long as we have no more delays, every release set for this year will fix any doubt one may have.

I’m not too sure why you’re calling out what I said as if it would hurt Ninty. As if the Wii U doesn’t have it’s issues, sure having us test and report various issues is cool but you can’t say that the Wii U wouldn’t have been better. Believe it or not there are people still waiting for Art Academy, Wii Fit U, Wii Party etc before picking up a Wii U, Nintendo knows this which is why there aren’t going to accept 4mil because for Nintendo they know they can do better.

Potemkin

Thing is it would be competing directly with PS4 and Xbox One, and let’s face it, if it did go out on november it would do worse. The problem here is not only games, but how Nintendo carries on the message that the Wii U (stupid choice of name btw) is not simply an add-on to the Wii. What were they thinking? I don’t know, but I’m sure as hell that next time they won’t name a console with the same criteria in mind. The thing with the launch games will still be an issue, simple as that.

Isaac Serious

Yeah I agree, I’ll be picking up one of each as well. To be clear I’m not saying that the Wii U SHOULDN’T have released when it did. It just seems like the whole Wii U’s ship is sinking arguement is getting old here. Not that Elem187 was implying that but it kinda made me think. Eitherway I purchased my WiiU at launch and I’ve been enjoying what it offers for now.

Elem187

I’m not implying the ship is sinking at all, but there is some obvious flaws in what Nintendo decided to invest in for the launch… I love Nintendo, love my Wii U, but its pretty obvious where they screwed up.
Thankfully the drought is about to come to an end finally. I can live with 1 title a month from here on out. Pikmin 3 will end the drought for me (MH3U helped for 3 months but I’m starting to get burned out on that. 230+ hours of play)
Pikmin 3, W101, WW HD (never finished the original), DKCRTF and then my most anticipated title, SM3DW. The wait for the last one is going to be brutal.

ItzameyaToad

People said the Xbox One name would confuse people with the Original Xbox lol not sure how that name is confusing really. Cant please everyone I guess.

Magnus Eriksson

Hardly any worse than this. So far the Wii U have been a failure.

But I agree that Nintendo did some really stupid business decisions. Naming the console Wii U is one. They should have moved away from that, or named it Super-Wii, Wii2 or simply U. Also whom they tried to attract made it unclear: “-We are a hardcore console and party machine for families and childrens to adults…”.

But the lack of games and support are the most important reason for the failure. But they did other wrongs aswell. Virtual Console is releasing games in a frustrating slow tempo, and its unnecessary slow. It should have been started up with catalouges and full library from Wii, and continuing upon that with new titles and new systems. Also lack of TVii in Europe and lack of retail games/Indies in Japan are to blame for the feeling people got of it as rushed out.

And of course people are asking themselves. What were Nintendo doing between E3 2011 and the release one and a half year later? Making Nintendo Land and New Mario Wii U? If NintendoLand was the games from NintendoLand+Game&Wario then it would be what it should be, the game that showed what the pad could do. Instead they released a halfgood game that wore out after a few weeks.

Michael Hancock

Wonderful 101 is weak.

Isaac Serious

Ah really… have you played it? I ask because it’s been at a number of events. I still think it looks fun even if it comes across a little corny with it’s humor. I’ll be picking it up when it releases but GTA V will be my top priority for Sepetember anyway.

Elem187

Judging by the reactions of Non-Nintendo fans who have played Wonderful 101, the game is going to pretty amazing…. and that was before Platinum added 5 way multiplayer.
Imagine the most stubborn of egos … If a game can get even the biggest Nintendo hater to like it, its going to be a killer app. I’m not too sure about Pikmin 3 selling very many consoles, but W101 will.

ItzameyaToad

They have a strong lead believe me. When it comes down to it the PS4 and Xbox One will launch next to a console that has a majority of the annoying bugs worked out that every new system has when it launches, a large library of games, an established base of at the very least 4 million probably more with the release of several AAA titles, a decent size library of 3rd party games, and alot of new games on the horizon. The fact is the Xbox One and PS4 really don’t have solid 1st party games until probably spring of next year and even then they have bugs to work out and catch up to do in terms of software on there system.

I think of Nintendo’s launch as more of a pre-launch, with the big guns coming towards the end of this year and beggining of next. I do agree though they should have come out of the gate and pushed the Wii U hard, but I don’t believe this year head start was a bad idea/bad thing if anything it giives them the one up on Sony and Microsoft even if it hasn’t been a great year as far as system sales.

Vazaha

I wish I waited a year to buy it for this reason.

Elem187

Oh I whole heartily agree that Nintendo released an year early was the right move, but there is other things Nintendo could have done to put some titles out while they are learning HD development.

But not getting software ready was a huge ball dropping moment… Knowing full well they were having development issues in HD, they had a lot of third party partners they could have brought in to help finish titles in time for launch. they also could have purchased more exclusives than the 3 (LCU, Bayo2, W101)
They could have also had all of their smaller studios pumping out eshop titles (Think Pushmo/Crashmo, Harmoknight) just to have those type of games coming out at regular intervals to help fill in gaps.
Outsourcing your dormant IP’s out to Sega, Namco, Capcom, Square Enix… they all know HD development pretty well by now.
Nintendo f’d up by trying to spend the absolute bare minimum they felt they had to for this launch(Iwata has admitted this much)… and it backfired badly.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda, I know, but thats straight up half assing this launch. You need to be willing to lose quite a bit of money to give the sales a jump start… They obviously thought it was going to be Wii 2, so they invested minimally like they did for the Wii’s launch (man that launch sucked for releases too, but Wii Sports was so popular it sustained the sales for months)

Nintendo4life

They are now

Nintendo4life

Won’t be any better with ps4 or xbox one

Zorlac79

It looks like those pallets of Wii U’s that were stolen are starting to make it to the streets! hehehe

gamesplayswill

fsrpt5tp;;7ydk idgsrth;.lcfkl;dpgyhd

Who agrees!?

Zakariyya Al-Quran

me

MTGSWE

WHOOOOOOO!!! SWEDEN :D:D:D

Magnus Eriksson

Its not possible to translate that way from svenska kronor to dollar. More acurate pricing is that 245$ equals 2450 SEK.

kenny Johnson

Can you explain what you mean? USD? That’s not what I get with online currency converters. The number they posted it roughly correct.

Magnus Eriksson

No, you are absolutly right on that. But when a thing like this costs 245$ you usually multiply that with ten to know what it will cost in SEK. That is 2450 SEK.

Alexander Kleinwechter

Its often like that, for an example euros, 1 american dollar is 7 svenska kronor, not 10

Magnus Eriksson

How much did the Wii U cost when released in Sweden? Roughly the same *number* as US pricing and EURO pricing. 2500 for Basic 3000 for Deluxe.

I talk about pricing, not the value of SEK in dollar or euro.

Bob Singh

This is bad

Nothing5555

but good if you are still looking to buy one.

[000]

How is that even possible? They are without a doubt clearing the inventory. Nintendo said Wii U was a good value, and I don’t think they’re suddenly changing their minds.

Unless if some spontaneous decision was made, or there’s some kind of secret thing going on, I don’t think anything happened on Nintendo’s end.

Elem187

Sounds like this retailer just wants to get rid of the stock right thsi instant…Can’t blame them, this console is selling like poop. Nintendo needs to get the software out faster than 1 per month.

Nintedward

Hitting the panic button before all the big games launch ? yeah , no. Only irrelevant and idiotic retailers will pull such moves. All the big retailers are thinking ”we’ll at least let the likes of Mario Kart , 3D world , smash bros , etc launch before we make any hasty and idiotic decisions”

And what’s funny is , I bet these same retailers still have full price Vita’s even though that thing has sold less than the Sega Dreamcast did in the same timeframe.

Potemkin

This is business. By how things are going it is not a bright future for the Wii U and nothing can assure retailers that this is going to change. First party games are taking too much to arrive and by the time they do arrive, the PS4 and XboxOne will be out as well.

Nintedward

I think the Wiiu has an OK future ahead of it. Maybe not some 100 million one like the Wii did , but certainly around half that figure.

Wiiu has a place in the future being the cheapest console with unique exclusives.

Potemkin

That is the problem…that it is only OK. I’m seriously only considering buying a Wii U for Bayonetta 2, DKCTF and SSB but I can also just skip it altogether. The catalog of the PS4 and Xbox1 has a lot more variety from different publishers.

Amz Strange

Trouble is, it’s all guesswork at this point. The way things are going it looks to maybe sell up to 30 million, which is not great and means a shorter shelf life.

Whether it manages to hit 50+ million all depends on how well the new Mario, Mario Kart, & Smash Bros do to boost sales and get things moving in the next year. Gamecube had all 3 and it didn’t do enough to stop it becoming the weakest selling Nintendo home console to date, thusly third party support died off and that was that. So it has happened before.

The importance of console sales relating to third party support is key (another Wii Fit phenomenon aside, but I think that’s died off), thus the overall lifespan of the Wii U. 30 million vs 50 million, as it were. Too hard to tell at this point, but this time next year it will be far easier to guess where the Wii U’s future is going

John Andalora

In order to do that, the retailers would have to actually stop purchasing Wii U consoles.
Retailers buy the Wii U and then sell it at a higher price to make a profit. So, if retailer sell it at a loss, it don’t matter as much to Nintendo.
Now there’s such a high supply to low demand, they feel they gotta lower the price to get rid of them.
So, if retailers really want to make Nintendo reduce price, they gotta stop buying them from Nintendo until the price is down.

jay

The problem isn’t that people don’t want the console. The problem is people think this is an accessory for their Wii.

Zakariyya Al-Quran

i agree, the name “Wii U” was a mistake but i like it yet other people think it is just the gamepad

Hobo

I disagree. Go ask around most poeple don’t want it, even when they know.

gatekeeper1980

I think the name is just fine. Even they use a different name like Wii Ultimate, Super Wii, Wii 2, or Project Cafe or Stream Wii, I think the real problem lies on marketing which is Nintendo fails.

Antar Rodríguez

this is alarming, this might mean wii u sales will drop more until heavy games make their appearance

Semi_Auto

If I could get a Wii U for $200 I would pick one up today no joke lol. They got some games I want coming out next year……..

Potemkin

But it’s too fucking expensive. I’m going to wait until it gets a price cut cause I know it will.

ItzameyaToad

Compared to what you get vs the other consoles it is cheaper and the better deal. Oh and I don’t see a price cut until maybe black friday, even then it probably won’t stay at the price cut price. Best bet for you is to wait for black friday and hope they give it a price cut.

Potemkin

That’s what I’m waiting for ;D

Jonn McNally

Too expensive? Poor people lol.

Potemkin

And this is what I hate about these kind of people.

Stephen Macneil

You’re right, in the light of PS4 and Xbox One it is too expensive. I see at least a $50 price cut by November, and a ton of new games.

TAKANYAN

If those prices were near me, I would buy 2 more just to have backups.

Javy G

Did Black Friday come early this year!?

kenny Johnson

They don’t have BF in NZ.

Destructonator101

The hell is black friday?

Elem187

kinda like your boxing day?

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, stores discount just about everything to get people into the stores.

http://www.mpt-online.eu/ Sylux

Hmm that Deluxe WiiU there is priced 10,- higher then my 3DS xl I bought December last year. But maybe it is just some sort of stunt, Media Market and BCC in the Netherlands often stunt with insane low prices as well (yes even 50% lower then the official price) Either that or the price tag has been miss printed, I don’t know though. But it smells like a temporarily insane price cut which might last only like 1 or 2 weeks.

incoherent1

What does each retailer pay Nintendo as a per unit cost? Does anyone know? If they are selling these at or near cost just to get rid of them, that’s bad news bears….

Elem187

Yeah, there is a good chance they will refuse to sell anymore until the games are released… and even then probably with huge tepidation, only ordering a handful everytime until it moves off the shelf at a reasonable rate.

Red

when the wii u launch in Australia it was at half price at big w

Destructonator101

Bull fuckin shit. It was 400 bucks there. Where in AU r u?

Red

Qld it was two weeks after the lanch

Destructonator101

WTF? totaly different in Vic. We still havent heard of a price drop here…

Red

the wii u price when back up after a week and prices haven’t changed since

Wow if i can find one here in California for 50 percent off then I would buy it on the spot.

Agent721

With Nintendo not putting out anything new on the console in months, save perhaps LegoCity, I”m not surprised. The Wii U is a great system, I enjoy the games I have on it….but man, I wish there were WAY more.

Zakariyya Al-Quran

WHO IS THE REATAILER!! i NEED TO KNOW BECUASE IM TAKING THE NEXT FLIGHT TO NEW ZEALAND FOR A WII U

gatekeeper1980

I think that is Dick Smith

Madmagican

Wait, why does the sign say the deluxe model was originally $400?

TAKANYAN

Those prices are for New Zealand.

Madmagican

Ah. that makes a little more sense
still, 50% off is fucking insane regardless of currency

TAKANYAN

Agreed

David Bennett

Brought myself a wii u basic. This retailer sold out in less than a day..

DereX

I spent $350 and now the system is worth $199…….. That is $150 that I will never see again….. Thanks Nintendo….

ItzameyaToad

It’s not there fault you spent your money on there system and you lost money in the process lol. Thats like me buying a car for $15,000 from Honda then seeing another car dealer-ship selling the same car for $12,000. It’s not Hondas fault.

DereX

Nintendo took the blame for this in the last article….. It is Nintendo’s fault for pricing a product much higher than the service or product is worth…. Nintendo did a bad job advertising and a bad job releasing exclusive games; therefore, retailers had no option but to drop the price so people would buy it… If there had been a better selection of games the console would sell for $350 and I wouldn’t be out $150…. It’s Nintendo’s fault no matter how you slice it.

ItzameyaToad

Im not saying Nintendo hasn’t not marketed their product, what I am saying is you shouldn’t blame a company for you buying there product at one price and seeing it for a cheaper price down the line. For example, is it Apples fault that a few years back I bought an Ipod touch 3g at a set price then a month or two later they drop the price and release a new Ipod Touch? No you wouldn’t blame Apple because I had a choice to, research, wait etc. to spend my money but I chose to buy it anyways. Nintendo yes has taken responsibilty for the Wii U selling bad but that doesn’t mean that you can blame them for You buying a Wii U and then someone that is not Nintendo drops the price and you feel cheated. I felt cheated when I bought my Ipod touch and Apple made it cheaper/new one but I came to relise I had every option to not buy it, thus not Apples fault for me paying extra money.

Amz Strange

Totally agree! I waited 8 months and bought a deluxe WiiU for 150 – used, but in perfect condition. For what it offers, 150 is a great price, but it’s not worth 350, that’s why I waited.

I’m a total Nintendo geek, but it’s not hard to admit that they really messed up with this console launch. Bad name, poor advertising, games not ready, Virtual Console a joke, outdated hardware (only important for future 3rd party ports) and a price point that’s 50-100 too high.

It’s going to be a great console once it really gets moving, and I love my Wii U so far, but they definitely messed up the launch…

John Raybell

face palm, if i sold my wiiu for $5 to someone would you still feel that way, are you slow in the head by chance.

Worth=value and value wise its worth allot more then $150

DereX

You know that you can replace any equal sign with the word IS right?
Are you solving an equation or are you commenting on my post?

John Raybell

13 retards up voted you, wow, lol

Brian Bridenbecker

There is still plenty of time for the system to bounce back. Look at the 3DS and VERY slow start it had and now look at it…just awesome. The Wii, PS3 and 360 all had long lives (2005-2013), the Wii U, PS4 and new Xbox will have long lives too. The games and developers will come once the high quality 1st Party titles come out.

Potemkin

3DS got a price cut…

ItzameyaToad

A price cut alone didn’t do jack diddly, if anything it got a few thousand people to reconsider buying one. If you gave the Wii U a price cut it still would not fly off shelves, games will make it sell.

bizzy gie

That’s Wii priced!

The Wii is 7 years old (and nowhere nesr Wii U’s level)!

andré

wii hiii , i live in sweden, and i didnt know it was that cheap =)

Michelle Taylor

$150? Still Expensive

John Raybell

How??? maybe if say you were in elementry school,had no job,parents were broke,you were homeless,didnt have hands,couldn’t do simple work for money,were lazy as hell,the kind of american that gives Americans a bad name,were a baby,were in a nursing home, I could go on all day.

In any case $150-$200 for a wiiu is cheap as hell, if you dont think so, again you are one of those I named off

http://www.facebook.com/michael.ngo.543 Michael Ngo

I think the retailers are taking it TOO far…

John Raybell

Cheaper the better, what is wrong with you people lol

http://www.facebook.com/michael.ngo.543 Michael Ngo

Not really, it just shows their complete lack of fate and they wouldn’t want to restock the consoles after this

John Raybell

Your a foreign idiot what the hell do you know!

sd

Its dick smiths. Are they not having problems as a business, didn’t they just get bought out by another company. They need to change their business model to start making a decent profit, so I wouldn’t read too much into this. New owners, new focus.

John Raybell

this isn’t the first price cutdiscount, this is happening all over the place,maybe not officialy from nintendo, but retailers are doing it anyways, its a good thing

sd

Yeah at the end of the day as long as it sells I don’t care how much it is, its not like I am going to get another one. It just needs to lift the user base.

John Raybell

yep, exactly

Guhtere

It shouldn’t be that low until Nintendo’s next console comes out. I’d say if they want to stand a better chance against the PS4, they should lower it 50 dollars.

John Raybell

The lower the better, the faster these things sell the faster user base goes up the faster support comes, have you even thought about what you just said?

This will only help wiiu owners and nintendo alike!

ItzameyaToad

You guys forget a cost reduction might get a very small portion of people to buy a Wii U, but what will really draw them in is games. If you see a system for $350 reduced to $300 that didn’t have anything that interested you would you still pick it up? I bet not and it’s that way with alot of people. Games sell systems not the price.

John Raybell

you seem to forget tons of people want a wiiu but are waiting for a price drop, you act if nobody is like that when there are millions of people waiting for a price drop, games will come everyone knows that, between what is out now and what will be out soon the games isnt the major issue lots are seeing now, its the price being so close to the other next gen consoles, making them say why wiiu when this is just a bit more, that will change, discounts, and a price drop soon before Christmas will happen and user base will rise, etc etc etc

Lophs

So retailers are willingly to take a loss to get rid of stock? Where is the price protection for the retailer?

TULFich

Who plays in New Zeland?

gatekeeper1980

Count me in. And I am proud to be a Kiwi Wii U owner!

iceazeama

dang, what a deal, if i could have found one that cheap. it would be easier dealing with nintendos bullshit and just wait.

David Clarke

This is a clearance sale! Dick smiths in Australia recently cleared out all there blu ray movies from $5-$20 including box sets like star wars. They also cleared out a number of recent games including call of duty 3 on ps3/xbox from $5-$15. Theres very little chance that any other stores will follow this kind of price cut unless they are clearing stock and have no intention of restocking the nintendo wii u.

adit

Nintendo should buy back their prodyct from retailers to prevent the domino effect of the price drop

John Raybell

No they should just drop prices everywhere to $200, $200 is fair and will help sales, this only hurts the retailers! not nintendo :), super increase in user base=third party support.

John Raybell

If only this was a world wide price drop :(. Nintendo Go Do It Now!!!!!!! Do it! $200 world wide!!!!!!!

Look at those prices compared to x and p, holy crap would the wiiu sell like crazy, and will there!!!!!!!!!!

This is good for nintendo All good news here guys, awesome awesome news

What happens when all of these onsale wiius sell? Thats right guys a true user base meaning support to follow, THIS IS WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN EVERYWHERE TO SAVE NINTENDO!

Steven Penberthy

By the look of the sign its either dick smith or Harvey Norman

Steven Penberthy

Oh, if you zoom in it does say dick smith at the bottom

Steven Penberthy

Should have been called nintendo U. Problem solved then people thinking its a wii add on if there was no wii in the name

Michael Hancock

I am tired of people stating that one reason the Wii U has not sold well is because of the name (Wii U). That’s nonsense! These people are simply regurgitating a rumor they heard that this must be a reason. Tell me, when XBOX 360 decided to name their console that-did people say-“WHAT?! How can your next system contain the word XBOX-don’t confuse me or I will think that the XBOX 360 is an add-on to my XBOX”.

Andreas Sunde

It’s because of all the add-ons the Wii had. Wii Fit, Wii Balance Board, Wii Zapper etc. With the lack of marketing Ninty has had so far, would you blame the average consumer for thinking it’s yet another add-on for the Wii?

jkjk

i paid 379€ for this………i feel robbet

Wanderlei

They only do this when they have literally 3 or 4 units in stock. Basic black PR 101.

ItzameyaToad

This shows how stupid retailers are. I mean really Nintendo knows the market/how it works and are saying don’t lower the price wait until games come out, what do retailers do? Panic and try and sell them cheap. This will happen until games release then the prices will go up, it is just annoying that people think the Wii U needs a price drop and the retailers are right for lowering the price. I don’t think the Wii U needs a price drop at all and is fine where it’s at as far as price. Wish the retailers would understand this cheaper system/less games= less sales, regular priced system+ alot of good games=alot of sales.

oontz

retailers need to make money as well. They can’t afford to carry stock that isn’t moving in the hopes that some day it will move. As of right now it ins’t selling and is just dead weight on their bottom line. If everyone ran their company like you they wouldn’t last long. Also how can it not use a price drop? The Ps4 is coming in at a mere $50usd more. That’s a lot more bang for the buck for anybody in this economy now.

ItzameyaToad

Quick thing first the Wii U doesn’t need a price drop because you get more for your money spending $50 less. Example Deluxe set Wii U , 32GB, Nintendoland,Deluxe Digital Promotion(10% back after every eshop purchase, after you download NintendoLand and register for the DDP it give you $5 back to spend on the eshop), ability to use all your Wii controllers so multiplayer is an option right off the bat if you own alot of Wii Motes vs having to re-buy new Wii U controllers. As well as being able to play all Wii games.

So lets look at PS4 launch price and how economy friendly it is, PS4 with a controller about $440 after tax+a game $60+PS Plus(if you wish to play online) $50+an extra controller if you wish to play 2 player $50= $600(Add all the tax from everything and it would be a bit higher)

Another example is the Wii U bundles. I got a 32GB ZombieU Wii U bundle so it came with, NintendoLand, Zombie U, Pro Controller, Concept art and Deluxe Digital Promotion all for around $10 more(taxes included) than PS4’s starting price of $400. Thats a deal!

Wii U just has more content that PS4 will for being $50 cheaper. Plus there is the $300 Wii U if you don’t want to spend the extra money.

I find the answer you gave on why they don’t keep them on the store shelves a bit stupid. Sure if it isn’t moving units then sell it cheap but that low is ridiculous. Also my point is that places like Best Buy,Wal Mart etc. have not(at least in my area) have not slashed prices and would never be stupid enough to slash them that low. If PS Vita is sold at full price and it is doing terrible then it should be no skin of retailers backs to hold off on slashing the prices, at least to the point of how much some of these retailers are doing.

Adecentboy777

I knew this will come, I’ve foreseen it after the launch sucked. Reason : NO good games, just postponed games and an overrated price. HEHE, I even won on this, betting aganst Nintendo was a good strategic step, thanks Nintendo for earning me some money

haras130

i Live in new Zealand and the reason why they are so cheap is because the retailer was purchased by another company and there are getting rid of all the old stock they have been sitting on, they are no longer selling nintendo products ethier. Since companies like JB Hifi and EB games pretty much own the market. they were selling uncharted vita game for $5. its was good for those who wanted deals

haras130

Reading all the comments some of you have no idea how small our market is. Ill be buying a few of these thats for sure. when i worked there they never could compete with some of the deals other retailers could offer. Nintendo is still a fantastic product.

Grulnork

I don’t get it why people (fanboys?) object to pricecuts. Pricecuts are good for the consumer. If a retailer takes a loss that is there decision, why would you, as a consumer, care?

I am an old nintendo fan, but I also waited till I saw the Wii U at 149 pounds on Amazon. I couldn’t justify €300 + €60 for a 2D mario game while I can pick up great indie games with similar quality for €5 on steam.

Nintendo is a great gaming company, but they are the apple of the gaming industry. They sell (older) hardware overpriced and rely on there quality software in a perfectly controlled ecosystem to maximise profit. But I am a sucker for Mario and especially Zelda, so I buy into it as well. But I can sympathise a lot with people who do not have this weakness of mine just for 1 or 2 franchises.

There are more and more companies (especially indies) who take a market share in the Nintendo demographic. Many cartoony, pure fun and maybe even casual games. Titles on steam like Mark of the Ninja, Orcs Must Die and Shoot Many Robots are prime examples of that. Great games!

Nintendo is lucky to have a very loyal fanbase and they did deserve that in the past. But at the moment the only really unique franchises that are worth it for core gamers are Zelda and Metroid Prime. The other franchises got very good and much cheaper competition.

All this fanboyism is just a result of post-purchase rationalization and hurts you as a consumer. A good fan is mostly critical on the franchises/companies they love, don’t buy blindly products of them, stay critical. Only this way you can force developers (and any company for that matter) to keep delivering quality products. If you don’t you will just get dissapointed more and more.

devildoggonzo

The problem with a price cut this large is that more than likely this retailer is not going to order many more Wii U’s unless something changes. Which hurts sales, which hurts support, which hurts Nintendo’s wallets. Thus directly affecting the fan base.

Grulnork

Yeah that is a factor, but I am pretty sure that who wants a Wii U will get one. It can affect impulsive bought consoles, but who is stupid enough for that (maybe more ppl then I think :p).

I think considering the harware of the Wii U a 200 euro/dollar price and 150 pound is fair.

kevin

The start of the end, you know those store will not be carrying wiiu after they sale out. Their saling it at a loss.

Dang, that is beneficial to the consumers, but totally a loss to nintendo.

Jason Cross

Wow for those low prices I would be running to the store to buy one!!!! I hope the US gets a price drop soon, so that I can buy one…

devildoggonzo

Really sad to see… The Wii U had some potential but it looks like only the hard core Nintendo fans are buying them.

Link Slayer

I’m pretty beat about that. I couldnt even sell mine for 100 bucks and I had a delux. My friends wouldnt even consider buying it. So Gamestop gave me 92 bucks. It was a bummer

Logan Waltz

i love it. if the stores sell all their consoles and get the console sales up, game sales will go up, revenues up, more resources to new projects and we can get this shit under way

Adam Fox

What is really hurting the Wii U is the name…that is it…..people are “Scared” of it because of all the shovel-ware and gimmicky control scheme the Wii had……and with “Wii U” being just a “Wii 2″ or “Super Wii”….then its not going to look so good…Despite what people want to say….the Sega Dreamcast sales suffered because of Sega CD and Sega Saturn poor sales…..the Saturn was a great system for those that knew where the gems were….but that involved research and hunting games down….and was only really discovered one the internet got popular, etc….back in those days, it was all magazine screenshots and box art…..now you can go on YouTube and search for a game that won’t be out for a month or longer and see VIDEO footage…..back then u got lucky to see 10 still shots…..previous mistakes will and can follow you for years

Giovanni Di Frisco

My wii u deluxe edition is collecting dust due the lack of good titles. As a first person shooter fan, I found zombie u and ultimate hunter so bad and expensive, will wait until PS4 gets release, meanwhile an old ps3 is serving well for my current gaming needs. Will keep my wii u 1 more year to see if it catches up. Still have my old wii with many arcade games on it.

Silent

And it will sell again, because thats what decides. The Wii was better than the PS3 and XBox 360 according to popular opinion. Face it.

Joyous Killer

Hehehe, welcome back!

John Raybell

user base will follow those sales, thus support, meaning retailers will buy up stock again, it will happen

Silent

Ignoring that the Wii won last gen

Silent

Ignoring that is it not out yet. Anyways why are you bashing on your own console, you are pathetic. We all know you own a Wii U and just admit it.